The Empress Dowager assumed that the mother and son would surely have another big argument about this matter, but to her surprise, Hongli remained silent for a moment, then actually nodded.
“What Your Majesty says is absolutely right. The Mulan Autumn Hunt is a matter of national importance, and I should indeed take it seriously. I shouldn’t make a mistake because of a woman.”
After your birthday, I will take you to the Mulan Hunting Grounds. As for Yushan, let her stay in the palace to rest and prepare for childbirth!
Finally hearing a satisfactory answer, the Empress Dowager smiled with satisfaction and praised, "This is my good son! If you always put the big picture first, there wouldn't be so many conflicts between us."
Hongli did not refute it, but instead acknowledged it.
Li Yu, standing to the side, was puzzled. He wondered why the Emperor would agree to go to the Mulan Hunting Grounds. Was he really at ease leaving the pregnant Imperial Concubine in the palace?
This isn't like the Emperor's style!
But he only thought about it and dared not ask any more questions, assuming that the emperor had his own arrangements.
Later, when Hongli mentioned this matter to Yushan, Su Yushan simply hummed in agreement, "Okay, I understand."
She didn't say anything else.
Hongli couldn't help but ask curiously, "Don't you have any objections?"
Setting down the little clothes she was making for her unborn baby, Su Yushan looked up at him with a calm expression. "You've told me about the importance of the Mulan Autumn Hunt. I know you're doing this for the sake of the court, so I won't be angry with you. Don't worry!"
"Aren't you afraid to be alone in the palace?"
Su Yushan nodded, then chuckled softly, "I'm afraid, but I think you'll handle everything properly."
Yu Shan rarely asked for anything, and she rarely acted coquettishly with him. Even if he left her alone in the palace, she had no complaints because she didn't want him to have any worries.
Hongli could guess what she was thinking, and he knew that Yushan wouldn't mind, but he cared a lot about it.
But the choice is his, so he has to handle this matter himself.
One evening a month later, Su Yushan was discussing the Qixi Festival with Chang Yue and the others when a palace servant came to report that the Emperor was injured!
Yu Shan was very worried and hurriedly asked the eunuch what had happened. The eunuch said that the emperor had some free time today and went to shoot arrows and ride horses. While the emperor was trying to tame a wild horse, he accidentally injured his leg and fell. He is currently in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where the imperial physician is treating him.
Fearing that he might be trampled by the horse and break his bones, Yu Shan immediately ordered a carriage to be prepared so she could rush to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to visit him.
When she arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the imperial physician was bandaging the emperor, saying that the emperor had injured his shinbone and needed to be flogged and rest.
The imperial physician was busy bandaging her wound, and Su Yushan couldn't say anything in front of everyone. Only after the physician left did she begin to sob.
Seeing her red-rimmed eyes, Hongli felt a pang of heartache and pulled her to sit down by the tent.
"I'm fine, don't cry."
These words of comfort did not console her. "The bone is broken, how could it be nothing serious? Who would believe that?"
Hongli suddenly laughed, "What? Are you afraid that if my legs are crippled, I won't be able to serve you anymore?"
Su Yushan was both amused and exasperated, and angrily punched his arm lightly, "What nonsense are you talking about! What time is it? You're so badly injured, how can you still be in the mood for jokes?"
Hongli grasped her hand, gently stroking it, and whispered in her ear, "The injury isn't serious. The imperial physician was lying. I didn't break any bones at all."
"Huh?" Su Yushan looked at him blankly, not understanding what was going on for a moment. "Are you really okay? You're not just trying to comfort me, are you?"
Hongli smiled meaningfully, "I'm just trying to fool others; the injury is just for show."
After a moment of deep thought, she still couldn't understand his intention. "Why did you pretend to be injured?"
Gazing into her eyes, Hongli then revealed his true purpose.
"Because I don't want to go to the Mulan Hunting Grounds. If I go there, you will be pregnant, and it will be inconvenient for me to take you with me. I also don't feel at ease leaving you in the palace. That's why I came up with this idea."
As the saying goes, "It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone," so according to this logic, since I injured my leg bone, I must rest for three months. During these three months, I cannot hunt, and therefore need not go to the Mulan Hunting Grounds. The Empress Dowager will have nothing to say, and I will also have a way to explain this to the Mongols.
So he had been secretly planning all this. "But didn't you promise the Empress Dowager you would go?"
“If I don’t agree and then say I’m injured, the Empress Dowager will definitely become suspicious. Only by agreeing at the time and then pretending to be injured by accident later will the Empress Dowager have nothing to say.”
After hearing his explanation, Su Yushan belatedly realized, "So you never intended to go to Mulan Hunting Grounds from the beginning. Why didn't you tell me the truth and lied to me for so long?"
"I just wanted to see if you could leave me! I thought you would be sad and angry and unwilling to leave me, but you agreed so readily and weren't sad at all."
Hongli complained with a wronged expression, while Su Yushan smiled helplessly and said, "I just don't want to put you in a difficult position! The Empress Dowager has already put pressure on you. If I make demands or bargain with you, wouldn't you be very tired?"
They were always silently thinking of each other. Hongli understood Yushan's true intentions, but he was only pretending to complain and wasn't really angry.
“If it weren’t for my son’s marriage, I wouldn’t have brought her back. She’ll cause trouble as soon as she comes back. But I’m not going to give in easily. No matter what, I will never leave you alone or put you in danger.”
Hongli pretended to be injured, and the imperial physicians were certain of it. The Empress Dowager, still not convinced, sent other imperial physicians to diagnose the injury, and they all said that the emperor had injured his leg bone.
The Empress Dowager originally planned to secretly send someone to deal with Su Yushan when Hongli went to the Mulan Hunting Grounds. However, things didn't go as planned. Hongli suddenly had an accident. His health was of utmost importance. In order to allow him to recuperate in peace, this year's Mulan Autumn Hunting had to be canceled.
A golden opportunity slipped away, and the Empress Dowager could do nothing but sulk.
Yonghuang didn't feel regretful that he couldn't go to the mountain villa and hunting grounds this summer, since he could study anywhere anyway. Yongying and Yongzhang, however, were quite disappointed, simply because they had lost the opportunity to travel.
However, Yongying has been quite busy lately. He had already found out that Su Mingfeng's daughter was named Su Tang and was the princess's study companion.
Rong Yu was too young to marry and still had to go to Ning Shou Palace to study every day.
Yan Zhi and Su Tang would accompany her, going to school in the morning and practicing riding and archery in the afternoon. Yong Ying would take the opportunity to chat with Su Tang.
No matter how much he tried to please her, Su Tang ignored him and never accepted anything from him, which greatly annoyed Yongying.
Yongzhang, seeing this, couldn't help but ask, "Why have you been going to see Su Tang so often lately? Tell me honestly, do you like her?"
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